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Drakar och Demoner
Drakar och Demoner (Swedish for Dragons and Demons, in Sweden commonly referred to by the abbreviation "DoD") is a Swedish fantasy role-playing game first published in 1982 by the game publishing company Äventyrsspel ("Adventure Games", later renamed Target Games). First edition was basically a translation of Steve Perrin's Basic Role-Playing (which in turn is based on RuneQuest) combined with the Magic World booklet. Second Edition was published in 1984, rewriting the text from scratch, fixing many translation errors and glitches in the rules although no other major changes were made. One of the available player races, the anthropomorphic ducks, was incorporated from Glorantha. The transition to a new system of rules began in 1985, not with Third Edition which mostly corrected spelling errors, but with the publication of an "Expert" rule expansion: Drakar och Demoner Expert. This among other things introduced hit locations and the use of a 20-sided die instead of the percentile die for skill rolls. Fourth Edition in 1991 was a major revision of the rules, superseding Drakar och Demoner Expert by incorporating it into the basic rules and then expanding them. In 1994, Target Games released Fifth Edition. This version was notable mainly because it came with an integrated world description. Changes to rules was minor, mostly reflecting the new campaign setting. In the end of the 1990s, Target Games found itself in economic difficulties and ceased its publication of role-playing games. The rights to Drakar och Demoner was transferred to Paradox Entertainment and they in turn licensed them to the gaming company Riotminds. Riotminds created a brand new Drakar och Demoner in 2000. This Sixth Edition meant a complete overhaul of the game rules to support a much less generic game world. The idea of "Expert" rules was re-used, and many rules expansions followed. In 2006, Riotminds consolidated the line with Seventh Edition, which again meant many rule changes to better support its campaign world. Among the changes was the removal of the basic character stats (grundegenskaper) which were replaced with 'exceptional abilities' (exceptionella karaktärsdrag) and the introduction of specializations of skills. This edition is called Drakar och Demoner Trudvang and is the first boxed one in many years. Campaign Settings Just like many other early role-playing games, Drakar och Demoner started out without a fully developed campaign setting. The first campaign setting of Drakar och Demoner was called Ereb Altor (Ereb being the name of the continent where most - if not all - official adventures take place, Altor being the name of the planet on which Ereb is located). It was created bit by bit by different writers through adventures and source books creating a somewhat haphazard world; medieval feudal states exist side-by-side with comparably advanced Renaissance-styled nations. With the fifth version Target Games decided to introduce a new, darker, campaign setting named Chronopia, thereby ceasing publication of new material for Ereb. After an outcry among fans of Ereb ensued, Target Games decided that Ereb and Chronopia both existed on Altor but on different hemispheres. Riotminds created a new campaign setting called Trudvang which utilized cultures, creatures and monsters based on Scandinavian folklore instead of the standard fantasy creatures. Trivia When Riotminds released their first take on the venerable Drakar och Demoner ruleset, it featured a concept very close to levels ("yrkesnivåer"). It didn't take long before an official addendum appeared on their website, "allowing" players to play without this feature. And in the subsequent reprints (as well as later editions) little or no traces of "yrkesnivåer" remain. External links *http://www.stacken.kth.se/~maxz/swerpg/drakar.html *Riotminds website ---- Back To: Ogres Wiki → O.G.R.E.s → RPG Portal → Role-playing Games → List of Games Category:Role-playing Games Category:Browse